Save Time and Money on Meat

As I was going through my grocery money this week I noticed that I had quite a bit of money left over, $80 to be exact and I get more money on Friday. I decided that with the sales going on I need to set aside some time to freezer cook this week. I have been doubling, tripling, and quadrupling occasional meals, but not too often.

I first talked about how I freezer cook here, but I thought I would take you on a step by step journey. It really saves me a ton of time and money in the long run.

First, I try to be flexible and cook what is on sale. Meaning, if I see ground beef on sale I plan on making meatloaves, meatballs, hamburger patties…and so on. This week boneless chicken breasts are on sale for $1.68/lb. at Kroger, which is an awesome deal. I also picked up some bone-in chicken breasts which were on sale last week.

Second, I go through my cookbooks and write down some chicken recipes that I may want to make. I looked for recipes that were more just assembly since I don’t have a ton of time to devote this week. Sometimes I do a whole day, sometimes just a meal here or there. The important thing to remember is that you can do whatever works for you!

Thirdly, I look in my pantry to see if I have any of the ingredients already on hand. I had quite a bit of things already, so my shopping list is pretty short for this cooking day.

Final Recipe Cut:
Chicken Cacciatore (2 meals) (bone-in)
Pineapple Lemon Chicken (2 meals) (bone-in)
Orange Teriyaki Chicken (4 meals) (boneless)
Grilled Honey Lime Chicken (2 meals) (boneless)
Parmesan Garlic Chicken (3 meals) (boneless)
Barbecue Chicken (1 meal) (bone-in)
*I will share all the recipes here, if they turn out to be delicious...they are all new to me except for the orange teriyaki chicken.

It is so hard to narrow it down, but once you do you can get started on making a shopping list.

Shopping List:
10 Chicken Breasts, bone-in
18 Chicken Breasts, boneless
Garlic
Orange Juice Concentrate (1-6 oz. can)
Limes (1/2 cup juice)
Cilantro
Jalapeño Pepper
Crushed Pineapple (1-20 oz. can)
Lemon

I spent just under $30 for everything on my shopping list, and yielded 14 dinners of chicken.

I made up all my recipes in a few hours! Everything was assembly only, so no cooking. First I labeled all the freezer bags with the recipe name and date. This is a very important step...nobody likes mystery dinner. Then I started at the top of the list and assembled the recipes one by one.

As always, feel free to ask any questions...


Photo Credit: www.dvo.com

This post is linked to Frugal Friday's at www.lifeasmom.com